Sunday, June 10, 2007

Gospel reading today. . .

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 9,11-17.

The crowds, meanwhile, learned of this and followed him. He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and he healed those who needed to be cured.As the day was drawing to a close, the Twelve approached him and said, "Dismiss the crowd so that they can go to the surrounding villages and farms and find lodging and provisions; for we are in a deserted place here."He said to them, "Give them some food yourselves." They replied, "Five loaves and two fish are all we have, unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people."Now the men there numbered about five thousand. Then he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of (about) fifty."They did so and made them all sit down.Then taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.They all ate and were satisfied. And when the leftover fragments were picked up, they filled twelve wicker baskets.

The line that stands out and "shouts" in that "still small voice" to me is this:

"They all ate, and were satisfied."

I've never been more satisfied anywhere than in the Catholic Church as a Roman Catholic! The other "food" in the other places where we gathered for nearly 30 years was not 'bad' in and of itself, but a "great message" is not satisfying to a starving, ravenous heart and soul. Only the body and blood of Christ sustains! Only his true and substantial presence in that host is what will sustain and nourish us in the course of this often cruel and challenging life.

I never knew how hungry I really was until I began to eat the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist at Mass! THAT is the one and only meal, the sacrifice of our Paschal Lamb, the LIFE He gave us on the Cross and continues to give us every day. Not in a bloody sacrifice, but now in his resurrected Body. How is it that we can ever become lukewarm when we stop to think about the Eucharist? I know we're weak and we sometimes can't stay awake "one hour" with Jesus, just as his disciples slept in the garden when he needed them most. We can become creatures of habit and our eyes can glaze over and we can become hardened to the things and blessings of God. I can't imagine growing so cold as to not desire the Eucharist, however, and maybe that's from so many years in "revolving door fellowships" that continues to cause me to hunger deeply for Christ and his Eucharist. Our priest, Fr. Andy today said that on this Corpus Christi Sunday, this feast after Pentecost and Holy Trinity Sundays is so special to us as Catholics. We HAVE HIM as our food! That is phenomenal and incredibly powerful! Stop and think what you're doing and what you're partaking of when you go to Mass and walk up to that altar, that table and WHO it is you're receiving into your own body, your own heart!

BUT.... that's the problem with many of us, we don't "stop to think" anymore. How very sad. Stop, listen, ponder the wonder of Christ as he humbles Himself to us every hour of every day in the Eucharist at every Mass around the world! Then, GO TO MASS! Let Jesus enter your heart and let his heart beat with yours and together you can change the world....and make a POSITIVE difference, not just a difference. Many have made a difference, but what good is a difference if it is negative or worse, evil? Let's humble ourselves before God as he becomes our "daily bread" and let's be united in ONE BODY ONE FAITH ONE BAPTISM and love one another as Christ has loved us and go forth to let Him shine through us and grow in holiness and one day, stand with our big brothers and sisters, the Communion of Saints in wonder and awe at the majesty of Jesus Christ our King!

About Me

I returned to the "First Pre-denominational Church of Christ," (as my husband brilliantly 'dubbed' it) aka: the Catholic Church in Dec. 2004, after my husband told me he wanted to go back to the "faith of his youth." The decision to swim across the Tiber has cost dearly, but has been worth it all! AND we are new grandparents of twin boys this summer, 2010!